Polka dots, Monkeypox

Good morning 🦁 This is Andrew's Apples, the health email that rips. Two min. Let's go!

• 🛴 Scooters for big kids. What does it say about a society that needs to zip around on a Nickelodeon-style scooter instead of walking or biking? Five years ago, scooter startups like Bird began raising what eventually would be $5 billion in venture funding. The valuations since then have tanked. The ride has come to a stop. Are we any better for it?

  • 🍎 Andrew's Take. To my eye, it speaks to us being lazier than ever before and busier than ever before. Walk? I don't have two hours dude. Bike? I don't want to get clipped by the door of a big rig on a skinny street. Scooter...?! Even though I'd like cooler zipping around in a PT Cruiser convertible - f*ck it - here's $6.00, let's RIDE!

• 🦍 Polka dots, Monkeypox. So, last Thursday the city of San Francisco declared a state of emergency. On Monday, NYC did the same thing. New York state leads the country with ~1,400 cases, with California trailing as #2 with ~800 cases. To be clear, the fatality rate is low (but that could change); however, the virus can put people out of commission for 4-6 weeks.

  • 🍎 Andrew's Take. Still, to me, this is all too convenient. A virus that has existed in central and west Africa for decades and now - in mid 2022 - is when it decides to finally hit American soil? Right when markets are in the toilet, stress is high, rents are higher, midterms are three months away, and the Saudis started a golf league? Riiiiiight.

• 💉 Vax won't save you. Our sitting president just got covid for the second time. He's also 79 years old (which is a different topic altogether). He is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice. Pesky little virus! From what is known, the vaccines oftentimes DO mitigate symptoms but RARELY if ever prevent contracting the virus. Some data in the UK suggest that covid deaths in the 70-79 age bracket are overwhelming vaccinated individuals. But as science-in-2022 would have it, many take the opposite position.

  • 🍎 Andrew's Take. What's wild to me is that the supermajority of American society has taken such a reactive (instead of preventative) stance on this virus. Exercise, sunlight, vitamin D3 supplements, and melatonin-induced sleep are not even discussed in the prestige media - no money in that! The stump speech remains: get vaccinated or else! I wonder about the longer term psychological effects of masses of people being told what to do when obvious counterarguments lie in plain sight. What happens to our critical thinking skills? Our ability to think for ourselves? "Because that's what good people do" is a slippery slope and one I refuse to croak on.

• 🕊️ Tweet of the Day. Dude, take a lap. Outside. Your eyes are bleeding purple blood from staring at the screen for too long. Climb a tree. Lie face-down in the grass. Listen to the sprinklers. ANYTHING!

How about them Apples? Hit me with any comments or questions.

Your friend,

Andrew🍎

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